26 Jul META Game the false path
Across MMA there are certain best practices that continually emerge. The tactics that have seen consistent success have grown and evolved over time and many coaches look to the highest level in developing strategies for all their athletes. The meta game is basically just a look at what best practices are influencing the sport and giving the clearest path to victory. Some examples of meta game strategy would be:
- Dominance of grappling over striking (Early Jiu-Jitsu practitioners)
- Emergence of sprawl tactics from wrestlers who could also strike
- Utilizing cage pressure and tactics to stop strikers from working in space
- Leading with punches to set up takedowns and/or kicks
Coaches generally are motivated by teaching the techniques and tactics which give the greatest overall success for the team. If a coach focuses on general best practices then over time the team’s results will reflect those tactics and should result in a better overall winning percentage. So in this case coaches typically are teaching a homogenized skill set and therefore you end up with fighters who do not have there own personal style.
A great example of this is stopping takedowns and standing up after successful takedowns. The meta game of MMA currently would dictate that takedowns be avoided at almost any cost, and that any takedown attempt be met with full effort to stand back up. Overall if you play the percentages this style will yield results on the team level. What is best for the team is not always the best for the individual.
There is an alternate path. A student who has worked diligently on working from their back and who has a specific skill set to sweep or submit quickly from bottom positions in an MMA setting can choose a different path. This student can quickly alter the meta game and choose different outcomes. They can fight without any thought for stopping takedowns, and can even encourage the takedown. If they fight someone who has been only schooled in the meta game of MMA they will instinctively seek out the takedown and top position.
This is only one example but in a sport that is quickly shifting there is a lot to be gained from exploring and developing strategies that are unique to each fighter and therefore force the opponent to adapt to a skill set that they have not had a lot of repetitions against.
This train of thought ties in with exploiting market inefficiencies, but it is even more important because it deals with each fighter trusting themselves in a way that lets them develop in a unique manner. If you think of top level fighters across any combat sport they were unique in ways that allowed them to excel. If your physical traits give you that advantage that is a great place to start from, but for those who are on a more even athletic playing field technique selection and development can lead to the same results.